Page 19 of Stormswept Colorado (Hart County #3)

SEVENTEEN

Teller

“I wasn’t objecting,” she’d just said.

“That doesn’t make it okay. I should have more control than this.”

But I had never wanted any woman as badly as I wanted Ayla.

I’d meant to stay strong. All well and good when I was trying to make her feel better as she cried.

Ashford or Callum had mentioned that Ayla and Lori’s father died, but if the colonel had been alive? I would’ve been eager to give the man someone closer to his own size to pick on. What kind of trash treated his daughter that way? How could her mother have left her in that situation?

And what about the man’s superiors? Or anyone else on the bases where he served.

Was it possible someone knew, and let it go on?

It made no difference that her father hadn’t struck her physically.

He had hurt her deep. Same with that sergeant who’d tried to kiss the beautiful babysitter. Fuck that guy.

Ayla had scars every bit as much as I did.

I was humbled that she’d shared her history with me. All I’d wanted was to hold her and make her feel better. Show her that better men existed. She was safe with me.

But then she’d touched me, proving exactly how weak I was. Not the kind of coward who would ever take out his anger or his lust on a defenseless girl.

No, I was the kind of idiot who got carried away when a gorgeous, brave woman pressed herself against me and caressed the places where I ached. A woman who had to feel vulnerable right now. She needed comfort. Not seduction.

“I am so far over the line right now, Ayla. Way over the line.” I bent over, dropping my elbows to my knees to cover the obvious tent in my uniform pants.

My cock had never been this hard in my life.

I wanted to cup my bulge and stroke it to get some friction, and seriously ? How was that even in my mind right now?

“Then take me with you,” she said.

Slowly, I turned my head to look at her. Her blond hair, almost as white as the snow outside, was tousled around her delicate features. The green of her irises was bright. Beguiling and yes, vulnerable, but also completely sure.

She wanted this.

Our coats were still in the front seat, drying off from our outside adventure, and the space blankets were scattered where we’d let them fall.

No wonder her hands had still been cold.

Except that thought led me to the memory of her fingers in my mouth.

How I wanted to drag my tongue over the rest of her, nip her with my teeth and kiss away the sting.

Cover her with my body and keep her from anyone who might dare hurt her.

Keep her for myself.

And that selfish desire, that craving, that fucking need to have this woman, was so much stronger than any of my lofty ideals.

“Come here to me.” I barely recognized the sound of my own voice. A low, bass rumble.

Ayla knee-walked across the bench, covering the foot or so between us. She didn’t have far to go. We’d been sitting close to each other, cuddled up on the bench backseat until I’d retreated. But this was important. If Ayla wanted to cross this line with me, it had to be her choice.

When her bent leg brushed my thigh, my arm hooked her waist. I swung her so she was in my lap, straddling me. Her palms landed on my chest.

“Put your hands here,” I said, pointing at my collar. “On my skin, like you did earlier. Get them warm.”

Her fingers tucked into the opening of my shirt and rested on my collarbones. The coolness of her hands felt good. Demanding my focus. It was my job to take care of her and make her comfortable, and I relished that. “Is that better?” I asked.

She nodded. Blond strands fell across her cheek, and her lips looked plump and pink.

“You want me to kiss you, Troublemaker?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Do whatever you want to me.”

My hips wanted to move, but I kept myself still. I held onto her waist, squeezing gently. “Fuck, Ayla, you shouldn’t tell anyone that. Especially me.”

“I think you’re exactly the person I can say it to.”

She meant because she trusted me. I planned to deserve that trust. I wouldn’t hurt her.

But I’d been holding back this part of myself for so long that I wanted a hell of a lot. I was like a starving man who’d been offered a feast.

I wanted to devour her.

“We’ll just start here. And then we’ll see.” I’d admired her lips in the photos and videos I’d seen online. I was man enough to admit it. But Ayla in flesh and blood, here in my arms—she was real and better than any possible fantasy.

This was who I wanted. This was who I couldn’t resist.

I circled my arms tight around her and brushed my lips over hers.

The next kiss was even lighter, slower, because I wanted to savor every second of this. If I was the starving man in front of a feast, then this was my first taste, when I had to stop and wonder if anything had ever been this good.

Then she sighed and rested her weight against my chest, her head tilting. Our lips fit together. The tip of my tongue slid along the seam of her mouth, and she opened on a whimper. Her tongue pushed against mine, and that made my cock jump in the too-tight confines of my pants.

My hands moved up her back. One rested at her neck, the other delving into her silky hair. She made a sound of pleasure, almost a purr, so I rubbed her scalp with my fingertips as I sucked on her lower lip.

Then I tightened my grip just enough to tug her hair strands a little. Her lips parted wide as she moaned.

“You like that?”

“Mmmm.” Ayla’s eyelids went half-mast. I directed her toward me again so I could keep kissing her.

I didn’t ever want to stop kissing her.

I loved when she showed her eagerness, licking into my mouth and wiggling her behind on my lap. When she finally slotted herself all the way against me and felt my erection, she gasped. My chest lifted and fell as I breathed.

“You feel how hard you make me?”

That sweet look of surprise turned naughty and teasing. “Bet I can make you even harder.”

A brief moment of disbelief flashed through my mind. I could hardly trace the chain of events that had led us here. At some point later on, I was probably going to have to think about it.

How was it possible I had Ayla Maxwell rutting herself against my cock right now?

But at the moment all my blood had rushed south. All my brain could process was how good she felt.

“Bet you can. Hold on. I’ll make this better.” Reaching between us, I adjusted myself to tuck my cock against my fly. I guided her forward to kiss me again as she rode my lap.

“You feel me against your clit, sweetheart?” I asked between pulls from her lips.

“Mmm. Oh . Teller. It’s good.”

Sounded like a yes to me.

How was this even happening ?

The air in the cabin was steamy, the windows fogging with condensation. Ayla worked her sweet little body against my cock until my thigh muscles tightened. Her whimpers and moans only cranked up the heat running through me.

Molten pleasure dripped to the base of my spine.

Fuck. I was about to come in my uniform pants.

Then furious knocking against the window splashed cold water over the moment. “Chief? Hey, we’re here to rescue you!”